The Cowboys have built a juggernaut offense, but a couple defenders stood out in Week 4 as well.
The Dallas Cowboys had a ton of standout performatives in their Week 4 tie. Seven-point underdogs at home, the crew showed up and showed out after a slow start, although they were unable to salt the game away. The club lost the lead with under two minutes remaining, took it back in less than a minute, then saw it tied again as the fourth quarter expired. Overtime ended with both teams kicking field goals and resulted in the highest-scoring tie game in NFL history.
A lot of offensive players have to have strong individual performances to score 40 points in a game, and while the majority of top Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades land on that side of the ball, the defense did have some unsung heroes throughout their bludgeoning. Special teams put forth a strong effort as well.
Here's a look at the top five individual grades from Sunday night with the caveat that this is being written Monday morning and PFF grades undergo a review during the week before being finalized.
Special Teams: Safety Juanyeh Thomas: 92.8
Thomas made the game-changing play when the Cowboys were in dire danger of getting blown out for the second consecutive week. A conservative offense in the midst of a porous defensive showing saw the Packers score unanswered touchdowns on their first and third possessions.
But on the second extra point, Thomas knifed through the protection and blocked the attempt from kicker Brandon McManus. Not only did he block it, but the ball stayed in the field of play, allowing fellow safety Markquese Bell to pick it up and race down the field for the two-point defensive score.
BLOCKED AND RETURNED FOR 2️⃣
— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2025
GBvsDAL on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/v9hXQILmgR
The three-point swing was crucial, too, as the teams traded the lead seven times in the game. Without it, Dallas loses in regulation.
Defense: Edge James Houston - 89.3, cornerback Trevon Diggs 83.3
Fans have been clamoring for James Houston to get more snaps at defensive end, and he logged a season high 22 defensive snaps on Sunday night. Following being shutout against the Chicago Bears last week, he had a sack, strip and fumble recovery of Jordan Love that led to the Cowboys scoring 14 points at the end of the second quarter to take a shocking lead at halftime.
James Houston continues to shine when given the opportunity. He has consistently seen his snap count increase in the first four weeks, and this will help keep that trend going.pic.twitter.com/ubKdIQmvwv
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) September 29, 2025
As for Diggs, there was a lot of conversation prior to the game when it was announced he wouldn't be in the starting lineup. The Cowboys were going to roll with DaRon Bland and Kaiir Elam on the boundary, with Reddy Steward as the starting nickel. This was a big deal as, even though it was hinted that Bland would be stationed on the boundary instead of the slot after missing two weeks, that it would be Elam headed to the reserve role and not the $96 million contracted Diggs.
Diggs ended up showing up and showing out, allowing only one reception in which he read the screen perfectly and knifed in to cause a three-yard loss late in the game.
Offense: Quarterback Dak Prescott - 84.6, WR George Pickens - 81.9
The Cowboys entered this game without their star wideout, CeeDee Lamb; a situation that meant total disaster in the past. Not this time. With Prescott playing at a Pro Bowl level thus far in 2025, he elevated that to an All-Pro, potential MVP performance with his actions on Sunday night.
The reason? Some incredible throws throughout the game, especially while under pressure thanks to another poor pass-blocking performance from the Dallas offensive line. Jalen Tolbert, Ryan Flournoy, KaVontae Turpin all had positive grades in the passing game, but the real star of the receiver corps was of course George Pickens.
While Prescott finished with 31 completions for 319 yards, Pickens had his best outing as a Cowboys receiver, hauling in 8 of 11 targets for 134 yards and two scores. When the two connected down the left sideline as Pickens times his reach perfectly while surrounded by two defenders, it was clear this wasn't the same old Dallas offense.
I haven’t seen Dak Prescott throw many moon balls like this before. I suspect he was targeting George Pickens’ jump ball ability so he gave it an aggressive trajectory. Turns out Pickens didn’t jump but I expect to see more of this (w/ a jump tho) pic.twitter.com/UrRLidkUge
— Reid D Hanson (@ReidDHanson) September 29, 2025
He'd go on to score a touchdown on the next drive after a turnover to give Dallas the lead heading into halftime, and then scored again in late in the fourth quarter, again to give the Cowboys a lead.
Reminder that we let George Pickens go because he had a “Grumpy attitude”
— MetcalfBurgh 🫡 (@PickensBurgh) September 29, 2025
💀pic.twitter.com/UzYH8OjrFI
While it sucks that the Cowboys have to play without Lamb, it may be a blessing in disguise that Prescott and Pickens will have a few weeks to create this kind of magic that will grow to the next level once the All-Pro is back in the lineup.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys Top 5 grades from Week 4 vs Packers include ST hero, WR1A, MVP
Category: Football
